


A Long Overdue Conversation

by The_Uninspired



Series: Lady, aka trans (clone) rights [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Gen, Gender Identity, Gender Issues, Jedi Culture & Tradition (Star Wars), Jedi Culture Respected, No Beta We Die Like Clones, Questioning, Those Awkward But Unfortunately Necessary Gender Conversations, Trans Clones, Trans Female Character, Transgender, but not these clones don't worry this is soft, u queers kno what i mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Uninspired/pseuds/The_Uninspired
Summary: Lady can’t sleep, so she decides to work on her aim at the blaster range.The General finds her there, and she has some things to say.
Relationships: Original Clone Character(s) & Original Jedi Character(s)
Series: Lady, aka trans (clone) rights [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997965
Comments: 3
Kudos: 69





	A Long Overdue Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> Lady's back!! I just couldn't keep away. I have a few other drabbles half-written, so while I make no promises, there might be some more fluffy trans clone content to come.

Lady was on the practice range, stretching out her shoulders between drills, when she heard footfalls approaching behind her.

“I know what you’re going to say, so just save it.” Lady grumbled without even bothering to turn around, knowing it could be no one but her sith-spawned batchmate.

Except-

There was a light melodious chuckle, and it was not the sound of a brother.

“And what am I going to say?”

Lady spun around fast enough to give herself whiplash, nearly dropping her blaster.

_Oh oceans-_

In front of her now, in well-worn but well-kept orange robes, was _General Fern_.

“General!” Lady yelped. She snapped to attention immediately and wished desperately that she had her bucket, because she couldn’t stop her cheeks from lighting up. “General, I am _so sorry_. I thought- I thought-”

“You thought I was Knees, come to take you back to bed?” Fern asked with a little smile. She didn’t _seem_ offended, which didn’t always mean much, but Lady’s general did generally seem transparent about her feelings, for all that she was a clever and wily tactician- she certainly didn’t hide her anger when she felt it. But still- brothers ahead, Lady had snapped at her general!

“My deepest apologies General,” Lady stammered, “I was confused. If I’d known it was you I would never have spoken in such a way.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Fern said, still smiling. “You’ve never been anything but eminently polite, Lady, except with your batchmates which is understandable. My sibling and I have more than once been mistaken for rivals, when the truth is anything but.”

Lady’s lingering mortification stayed her tongue, but her curiosity perked up at that. She thought Jedi didn’t have any families?

“I apologize for disturbing your practice.” Fern said. “I was hoping I could practice some myself. Would you mind if I ran some drills with you?” The General pulled aside her robe to show that, on the hip opposite her ‘saber, she’d strapped a shiny new blaster.

Drills? The General wanted to run _blaster drills_?

“I’m afraid that I’ve over-specialized in close combat.” Fern smiled wryly and shook her head. “You’ve all had to bail me out of trouble more times than I’m comfortable with. I think it’s long past time I learn my way around a blaster.”

“It’s no trouble, really!” Lady blurted. “We want to save you!”

Fern’s smile softened. “I don’t doubt it. But is it so strange that I would like to save you in return?”

 _Yes_ , is what Lady was tempted to say. But she managed to hold her tongue.

At least, she managed to hold it for fifteen minutes or so, at which point the steady rhythm and drone of blaster practice had soothed her nerves and calmed her heart, and given the time for further thoughts to occur to her.

“General, may I ask you something?” She asked, in a lull between drills.

Fern looked up from the blaster she was fingering. “Certainly. You should always feel free to speak your mind with me, Lady.”

It was hard not to blush again, at that.

“Appreciated, General. It’s just…” Lady bit her lip. “Why are you here in the middle of the night?”

Fern raised an eyebrow. “Why are _you_?”

Lady swallowed. “I- I couldn’t sleep. I would rather do something useful than stare at the ceiling.”

Fern nodded. “Understandable. Although if this lack of sleep is a chronic problem, I would like you to speak to Ranmi about this. Our dear healer has some small budget set aside for sleeping aids, and I’d hate to think of them expiring on the shelves because no one uses them.”

Lady nodded dumbly.

“As for me…” Fern breathed deeply and tucked her blaster back in its holster. “I was… withholding, when I said I needed blaster practice- although I certainly do, and I thank you for sharing some drills with me. In truth, I wanted to speak with you.”

“Me?” Lady gasped sharply, and her blood ran cold.

Knowing just _how_ she was defective was its own kind of comfort, but that didn’t change the fact that she _was_.

And beyond that- there were so many reasons for a General to seek out a trooper in privacy, almost none of them good. Had Lady misstepped on the last mission? Had her subpar aim with a blaster finally been noticed? Hells, had something happened to her batchers? Or- was she being reassigned? That was a thought almost too terrible to imagine. What if she never saw her brothers again? What if-

“It is nothing bad, I promise you.” Fern said. The General took several steps closer, so that it was easier to make out the expressions on her face, and then fell gracefully to her knees. “I swear on my ‘saber, I mean you no harm Lady. So please, sit with me for a moment.”

Nervous, but more confused now than afraid, Lady tucked away her blaster and sat down across from her General.

“Let me begin by clarifying that this is something I would normally never discuss.” Fern said ominously. “Not because it is not important, but because it _is_ important. This is a matter of personal life that nobody but yourself has any right to. I… I am uncomfortable even having this discussion. I held off as long as I thought I could. But I’m worried that you and your siblings are not aware of the rights and accommodations that are allowed to you, and I cannot in good conscience go another day without making something incredibly clear to all of you.”

“Then why find me?” Lady asked. “If this is something everyone needs to know, why start with me?”

“Because I thought you might like a couple of days to think about it, before I made a battalion-wide announcement.” Fern said. “That… and there are some additional things I would offer you alone, if you would like.”

Lady swallowed thickly. “I… don’t understand, General.”

Fern frowned. “Of course not. I’m not doing this right. I apologize, Lady. I should be more prepared for this conversation.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“I know it’s not.” The General said, and the frown finally left her face. “But to try again… I would just like to make it perfectly clear, to everyone under my care, that gender is a personal matter in which nobody else is allowed to have any say. Just as with your names, I consider your genders and expressions of gender to be incredibly valuable, and while I cannot speak for the entire Republic, I would like to promise you that I and my fellow Jedi will always do everything we can to respect who you are and support your expressions of self in whatever way we can.”

Lady’s mouth dropped open and her blood froze in her veins.

Fern continued onward mercilessly. “When a citizen enlists in the GAR, the paperwork they complete includes a specification of pronouns. While you and your siblings did not enlist, your GAR profiles conform to this standard, and from a private terminal any one of you may update these listings whenever and however you would like. I would also like to add that this is entirely optional, and it is perfectly alright to use pronouns in day to day life that are not the ones listed in your profile. These profiles are merely guides for people like me, so that we might refer to you the way you wish to be referred to. It comes down only to what you are most comfortable with. You might like to know, however, that you and your siblings have all been listed with the pronouns ‘he/him/his/his/himself’, so anyone uncomfortable with that will have to update their profiles.”

“I- I don’t understand.” Lady said helplessly, fists shaking in her lap.

“I’m sorry, that was a lot.” Fern said. “What I’m trying to say is that in this battalion, I would like everybody to be addressed exactly how they would like to be addressed, and I would like nobody to feel as if gender is something they need to hide.”

That- that-

That didn’t even make sense.

Lady knew, of course, that some human cultures recognized people like her. Some even celebrated them, which was a nice thought. Fern herself had shared stories of her youth, in which she’d medically delayed her own puberty by several years before she was certain it was the puberty she wanted to undertake- and in which she’d had a batchmate who _had_ altered their own development in some way. In context, it had been a story shared with Lady and her brothers in relation to their own unnaturally tailored and accelerated pubescence. But now… Lady wondered if that wasn’t the General trying to broach the subject in a more roundabout way. Fern never met any problem head on, not if there was a quieter way to sneak up on it from behind. How long had she been trying to have this conversation before being forced to… well, have this conversation?

“But… we’re clones, sir.” Lady protested. “We’re all clones of Jango Fett. A man.”

“Are you all bounty hunters?” Fern asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No.”

“Well then.” Fern smiled. “I think you’ve all inherited far less from your donor than your looks might imply.”

“But… I’m…” Lady swallowed.

“You’re exactly as you know yourself to be.” Fern said gently. “Nobody has a say in who you are. Not Jango Fett, not the Kaminoans, not me, not even your batchmates. Your mind and soul are your own, Lady, even when nothing else is.”

“Oh.” Lady said dumbly.

It took a lot of concentration not to let the tears fall from her eyes.

“Now, I would like to make an offer.” Fern said, frowning again, shifting slightly on her knees. Another problem, then, that she felt forced to confront head on. “I am being completely sincere in saying this is an _offer_. You have no obligation to any answer, and I promise I have no preferred answer. And you certainly don’t need to explain yourself to me, as I’ve said, who you are is your own and you don’t owe me any information or explanation. I…” Fern paused for a breath, clearly uncomfortable.

“I’m a woman.” Lady blurted.

It was Lady’s job, after all, to back up her general. And where Fern was cautious, Lady was proud to rush ahead.

Fern stopped short, mouth open.

“I’m a woman. I figured it out once I met you.” Lady said in a rush, before her courage could run out. “I use she/her with my squad in private, sir. It’s how I picked my name.”

And there.

It had run out.

Lady clutched her hands in her lap and a couple of tears finally escaped as shame and mortification threatened to swallow her up.

“Thank you.” Fern said slowly, as if trying to imbue every word with the gravest importance. “Thank you for sharing this with me. I swear on my ‘saber, I will not tell another soul without your explicit permission. I’m honored by your trust, Lady. Truly.”

“Not at all, it’s _me_ that’s honored General.” Lady insisted. “I never thought anyone would… I didn’t think anyone but my squad would ever know, ever. I didn’t even think…”

Fern nodded and breathed deeply. “That’s why I felt the need to tell you clearly, Lady. A jedi is raised with the expectation that they will be allowed to express themselves as they wish, and to experiment with this expression, and that they will have social support for doing so. I didn’t want to intrude on the personal matters of you or your siblings, but I grew concerned that you did not know you had my support in this.”

Lady still wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t dreaming. Her head felt a little fuzzy, and this was all too perfect to be believed.

“Thank you, General. I…” She swallowed. “Just… thank you.”

“Thank _you_ , Lady.” Fern said. “If I am a good general, it is only because you and your siblings have taught me all I know, and inspire me to better myself every day.”

Lady blinked back more tears- not upset or painful but simply _overwhelmed_ in a way her body couldn’t seem to contain.

“You can use she/her for me, and call me a woman. In private. If you want.” She stumbled. She wasn’t ready yet to tell anyone else- she had never imagined such a thing- but this she could imagine, and it was a wonderful thought.

“Is that what _you_ want?” Fern asked.

Lady nodded. “Yes. I’d like that very much, sir.”

Fern smiled softly. “In that case, I’d be happy to Lady.” Her smile quirked with levity. “Just as I’m happy to know that I’m not the only woman on this ship. Gender does not define a person, but there is something to be said for having company of your own kind.”

Lady flushed hot at even the thought of being of any sort of _kind_ with the General.

“So… what was the offer?” Lady shifted subjects clumsily.

“Oh yes, I nearly forgot.” Fern perked up. “Thank you for reminding me. My offer was this: If it would make you more comfortable, I can arrange for separate sleeping or bathing spaces for you. I know that some cultures appreciate private gendered spaces, and I wanted you to know that I am happy to help make some if it would bring you comfort.”

“Oh.” Lady said, genuinely surprised. Such a thing never even would have occurred to her. But then, she’d been raised as a brother in a world of brothers, so there’d never have been a need for any female space. “If it’s all the same to you General, I would prefer to keep things as they are. I’ve always lived with my brothers, and I like it that way. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer!”

“Whatever you’re most comfortable with.” Fern smiled. “I would never force you. Just know that the offer is always there, should you ever change your mind. And I’ll be making the same offer to everyone when I speak to the whole battalion.”

“Thank you sir.” Lady bowed her head and breathed. “For everything. It’s more than I’d ever hoped for.”

“But no more than you deserve.” The General insisted. “And if you ever have any trouble, with a sibling or an officer or a jedi, or even just if you need assistance with something practical, I hope you will come to me. I will try to help however I can, but I am as blind as any sentient, and I cannot promise I will always know what is right on my own.”

Gracefully, like a dancer, Fern rose to her feet and smoothed out her robes. She smiled down at Lady wryly.

“Now come, Lady. Let us deliver you back to your brother. I would hate for him to worry about his sister on my account.”

Lady got up shakily, still buzzing and crying just a little.

“Certainly, General.” She said, through a smile of her own that she could not control.

Even after everything else, it brought a dizzying thrill that was hard to contain.

_She called me a sister!_

_General Fern called me a sister!_

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I decided to give General Fern a questioning past! Questioning is such a real and valuable part of the gender experience, and I think we’d probably have a happier world if more people, trans* and cis, were allowed to question freely. So it turns out Fern questioned her gender a bit as a preteen, before she realized she truly was most comfortable living as a woman.
> 
> I like to imagine that in the future, checking in on gender with preteens and offering medical and social care will be just as normal and routine as checking whether they need glasses...


End file.
